Union City Business Bits - 1972

Ahl’s Greenhouse and Floral ShopAhl’s Greenhouse and Floral Shop, located at 101 East High Street, provided the residents of the Union City area with floral gifts. The Olds family operated the business from 1957 until December 1959, when Mr. and Mrs. Irwin M. Ahl took it over.Originally, Ahl’s Greenhouse just sold plants, but the Ahl’s expanded their stock to include cut flowers.They also added two new greenhouses to the business, one in 1960 and another in 1965. In 1972, the Greenhouses totaled fourteen thousand square feet.Consumers Oil CompanyConsumer Oil Company was located at 56 North Main Street in Union City and had been there since June 1934 since Harry E. Lyons opened the company to the public. Consumers sold Mobil gasoline, oil, kerosene, and fuel oil.In 1937, Consumers became an Oldsmobile automobile dealer, and sold Oldsmobiles until 1962, when it gave up the dealership.Present owner L.A. Dingle continued to offer customers the same excellent service that had become a company tradition. He employed seven people.Helen’s Pizza VillaEstablished in April 1962, Helen’s Pizza Villa offered Union City citizens a complete menu of Italian food at 48 South Main Street. Owner Helen Kuczaj originally limited the menu to pizza and sandwiches, but she gradually expanded it to include soups, salads, and dinners.From an original small shop, Helen’s Pizza Villa expanded to a modern thousand square foot location with new equipment and a staff of three to quickly fill orders.Joseph M. Tomcho & SonsBeginning in 1970, Joseph M. Tomcho & Sons operated the official Union City refuse disposal service. In 1963, the business began as a general gravel and top soil supply business and the company’s equipment was hired out for bulldozing, ditching, and loading work.The 1970 contract with Union City borough changed the scope of the business. The Tomchos established a new office and hired a clerk and seven other people to operate the business. Mr. Tomcho and two of his sons were active in the business and Mrs. Tomcho served as office manager.LeFevre’s Beauty SalonBarbara LeFevre, owner and operator of LeFevre’s Beauty Salon, located at 5 Warden Street, believed in the importance of modern equipment. She changed her equipment at least every five years because she said that new techniques were being developed every day and only by owning the latest equipment could a salon be expected to keep up with the changes.Pine Woods InnThe Pine Woods Inn, located on the Corry Road in Union City, served fine food and drink since Prohibition was repealed in 1933.Originally located in the old Dingle homestead, the Pine Woods Inn had a many owners over the years. The current owner, Thomas H. Kysor, employed five people.On New Year's Day in 1967, the old building burned down, but the owner build a new, larger building which opened in time for Thanksgiving 1967. The Inn was famous for its game dinner, served yearly in January.Quality MarketsIn the winter of 1917, the first Quality market store in Union City opened at 26 North Main Street between the hotel and the bank. Herb Hodgins wasn’t the original manager, but he managed this store for many years.In 1923, another store opened at 98 South Main Street with George Ottaway as the first manager. In 1929, a third Union City store was purchased from the Witkop and Holmes Company of Buffalo.In 1949, the original down town store was moved to newer and larger quarters across the street and became Union City’s first supermarket. Keeping pace with the supermarket revolution, this store again moved in 1963 to a new building at 19-21 East High Street next to the post office. In the meantime, the two smaller stores were closed and the business consolidated into the one larger supermarket.Quality Markets enlarged the East High Street supermarket to more than double its former size and added and expanded many of its departments while offering household goods and food at low discount prices.Rosier’s Home FurnishingsClarence Rosier started his appliance business from his home in 1950. By 1972, his business located at 80 South Main Street in Union City had expanded three times, but still was located in the front of his home.In 1953, Clarence added a new front to his store and concentrated on good products, good service, and satisfied customers.He displayed many manufacturer’s products in his display room, but when he became a Frigidaire dealer in 1957, business began to hum and sing. Clarence has always been customer centered. In 1961, he won the Frigidaire Award of Merit for outstanding customer service and he received similar awards for five and ten years of additional service.In 1966, his customer service code had paid off so well that Clarence could build a new side on his store. This addition nearly doubled his display space and provided a storage room. In 1968, Rosier expanded by taking on the Admiral line of electronics.Rosier’s Home Furnishings symbolized a small family business growing successfully because its owners always put the customer first.Ted’s JewelryTed’s Jewelry located at 15 North Main Street in Union City, offered complete watch cleaning and repair service. Ted and Millie Amoroso founded the store at 11 North Main Street in 1959 and since the buildings opened, Ted Jr. has joined his parents as a watch repairman.The Amoroso’s added many new pieces of equipment over the years including an automatic watch cleaner, a new watch timer and a modern engraver.Thomas MarketIn 1940, Carl and Rose Thomas purchased Carpenter’s Meat Market located at 33 North Main Street. At that time the business was a 600 square foot meat market.In 1967, Carl Thomas and his son, Carl, Jr., built a new, brick, 3,000 square foot Thomas Market at 100 South Main Street. They added new lines of products and employed four other people besides, Carl, Rose, and Carl Jr. to better serve their customers.Triscuits, Inc.Triscuits, Inc., of 85 Waterford Street in Union City, offered a complete line of farm machinery and Dodge cars and trucks. Myron Kimmy and Harold Baumbach established the business in 1946. Kimmy and Baumbach carried the Oliver and New Holland lines of farm machinery along with Kaiser and Frazer automobiles and several years ago substituted Dodge cars and trucks for the original machines.Donald Triscuit operated the business in 1972. His business operated out of a 5,400 square foot building and he employed sixteen people. The latest addition to his business was a new farm machinery building that he added in 1960. He planned future expansion.